Journal of Korean Nature Vol. 2, No. 2 99-102, 2009

Characteristics of the Dorset and East Devon Coast, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, United Kingdom

Dal-Yong Kong1*, Jong-Deock Lim1, and Min Huh2

1Natural Heitage Center, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 396-1 Mannyeon-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-834,

Korea2Korea Dinosaur Research Center, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea

Abstract: The Dorset and East Devon Coast, which is located on the southern coast of the United Kingdom,achieved UNESCO World Heritage status in 2001 after the Coast was designated as a protected area spanning 25.5kilometers in 1957 and 1963. The World Heritage Site has become major benchmarks for countries in the world. TheSite became more famous due to Mary Anning (1799-1847) who was an amateur fossil collector. Since the commenton the abundance of fossils was made first by John Ray in 1673, the Site was placed on the geological spotlight. TheWorld Heritage Site is the coastal area from Orcombe rocks in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, 155 kilometersin length. There are rocks of the Mesozoic era along the cliffs comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceousperiods. The geological layers get younger from west (East Devon) to east (Purbeck). The oldest rock is 250 millionyear old Orcombe Rocks that record the Triassic period and the youngest rock is 65 million year old Studland Baythat records the Cretaceous period. Therefore, the area truly reveals the 190 million year long history of the earth.

Key words: UNESCO, World Heritage, United Kingdom, Dorset, Devon

Introduction

Since the designations of the Spherical rocks in Unpyeong-

ri, Sangju (Natural Monument No. 69) and the tree fern

fossil site in Geummubong, Chilgok (Natural Monument

No. 146) on Dec. 3, 1962 as natural monuments, the first in

geology, a total of 61 natural monuments are designated

and managed as of November 2009. There were only 30

natural monuments before 2000, but additional 31 natural

monuments were designated after 2000, and the cases of

designations are expected to rapidly rise every year (Kong

D.Y. et al., 2008).

The Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea requested

UNESCO World Heritage Foundation to designate Jeju

Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes as World Heritage Sites in

February 2006. IUCN experts assigned by UNESCO

visited Jeju for due diligence in October 2006, and the Jeju

Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes were designated as the first

World Heritage Sites of Korea on the 31st World Heritage

Committee held in Christ Church, New Zealand, on June,

27, 2007. Currently, efforts are being made to enlist the

Korean Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast to the World Heritage

Sites. The Korean Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast benchmarked

the Dorset and East Devon Coast in the United Kingdom a

benchmark for many countries that plan to enlist their

properties in the World Heritage Sites. The Cretaceous

layers distributed on southern coastline of Korea show

more than 10,000 dinosaur footprints, about 500 pterosaur

footprints and other bird footprint fossils, with excellent

diversity, uniqueness and rarity (Huh M. et al., 2008).

This study introduces the characteristics of management

and conservation systems of the Dorset and East Devon

Coast, and it is expected them to be useful for the

establishment of Korea's World Heritage Sites management

plans of the registration Korean natural heritage in the

World Heritage Sites list.

About UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Dorsetand East Devon Coast

The Dorset and East Devon Coast is a globally well-known

geological site and famous for its beauty and uniqueness.

An English amateur fossil collector, Mary Anning (1799-

1847) happened to find the fossil of Ichtyosaur in a coastal

village, Lyme Regis (Fig. 1). Collecting rare fossils was a

fad among English aristocrats in the early 19th century. The

Ichtyosaur fossil came to find its place in the central aisle of

the Natural History Museum in London after passing

through the hands of Duke Buckingham. After that, Mary

Anning found fossils of Plesiosaur, which is a giant marine

*To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Tel: +82-42-610-7619

E-mail: dykong@korea.kr

J. KOREAN NATURE

100 Dal-Yong Kong, Jong-Deock Lim, and Min Huh

reptile, and Pterosaur and donated them to Oxford

University, making a great contribution to geology. Mary

Anning left a great milestone in the history of geology and

paleontology. The Dorset and East Devon Coast was the

site that she worked on.

The Dorset and East Devon Coast is the center of global

geology. Many famous scholars have conducted their

studies and research in this area. They include John Ray

who first made comments on this area in 1673, William

Smith who made the first geological map in England,

Gidean Mantell who discovered Iguanodon, Sir. Henry De

la Beche who founded the British Geological Survey

(BGS), John Stevens Henslow who was an advising professor

of Charles Darwin at Cambridge University and Louis

Agssiz who was the founder of glacial geomorphology. As

mentioned above, the area is one of the most geologically

important areas and there have been more than 5,000

research papers on the area (Marco Cattaneo et al., 2004).

The Dorset and East Devon Coast is located in southern

of England and stretches 155 kilometers from Orcombe

Rocks near Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in

Dorset (Fig. 2). There are rocks of the Mesozoic era along

the cliffs comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous

periods. The geological layers get younger from west (East

Devon) to east (Purbeck) (Fig. 2). The oldest rock is 250

million year old Orcombe Rocks that record the Triassic

period and the youngest rock is 65 million year old Studland

Bay that records the Cretaceous period. Therefore, the area

truly reveals the 190 million year long history of the earth.

The Dorset and East Devon Coast was designated as a

World Heritage Site in 2001. Table 1 shows the brief

information.

Characteristics of The Dorset and East Devon

Coast

The Dorset and East Devon Coast (the Jurassic Coast), a

World Heritage Site, is located in southern, England and

stretches 155 kilometers from Orcombe Rocks near

Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset (Fig. 3).

The stunning stretch is 155 kilometers in length and covers

2,550 ha. It sits within private estates. There are more than

Fig. 1. Mary Anning (1799-1847) has been described as 'thegreatest fossilist the World ever Knew' and made a series ofimmensely important early discoveries (Dorset & Devon CountyCouncil, 2000).

Fig. 2. Map of the Dorset and East Devon Coast (modified from Dorset & Devon County Council, 2000).

J. KOREAN NATURE

Characteristics of The Dorset and East Devon Coast, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage, United Kingdom 101

100 landlords of whom the National Trust holds the

majority followed by the Ministry of Defense and other

private landlords. In Korea, most World Heritage Sites and

Natural Monuments are held by the government. There are

relatively few private landlords owning the Sites and

natural monuments. In U.K., authorities related to the

management policies of World Heritage Sites lie with the

local World Heritage Centers, not with the Natural

England, the central authority. They adopt policies that

guarantee private ownerships as much as possible. For

example, the British government pays usage fees to

landlords to compensate for inconveniences that may be

caused when visitors use private roads in the World

Heritage Sites. This example shows the government's

willingness to deal with disputes with the landlords. The

Agricultural Fund finances the usage fees.

Generally, a core zone and buffer zone are designated to

protect Natural Monuments and World Heritage Sites. Such

zones cause many complaints since all activities in those

zones are strictly prohibited by laws. In Korea, all activities

within 500 meters from the outer boundary of state-

designated cultural heritage are prohibited by laws.

However, there is only a core zone in the Dorset and East

Devon Coast area. This signifies that the designation of

core zones protects private ownership at maximum and

preemptively avoids civilian petitions.

Another characteristic of the Dorset and East Devon

Coast is that the rights to collect and export fossils in the

Site lie not with the state government but with the

landlords. British laws prescribe that the ownership of all

fossils is held by landlords who can appoint a third party to

collect and export fossils from their land. Such appointed

parties can collect or bring fossils out of the land. The

appointed parties can collect fossils and donate collected

fossils to museums or universities or sell them.

The British government adopts policies that protect

private properties. In addition, the state government and the

Planning Department of each city adopt strict, restrictive

and agreeable policies at all stages from the design of a

building to height limits and harmony with nature to protect

World Heritage Sites.

Features of the World Heritage Center

There are one World Heritage Center in the Dorset and East

Devon Coast and several Heritage Centers (Visitor Centers)

(Fig. 4). A Visitor Center in each region runs a small

museum that provides education and protection programs

on the fossil sites. Although the British Natural England

(counterpart of the Cultural Heritage Administration of

Korea) supervises the World Heritage Site, the World

Heritage Center takes charge of setting policy directions,

managing research and education programs and dealing

with civilian petitions. In other words, the World Heritage

Center and Heritage Centers (Visitor Centers) play

important roles in managing and operating the World

Table 1. Identification of the Dorset and East Devon Coast

(A) Country: United Kingdom

(B) State, Province or Region: England

(C) Name of Property: DORSET AND EAST DEVON COAST

(D) Date of Inscription: 2001

(E) Criteria: N (viii)

(F) Nominated Area: 155km(Orcombe rocks~Studland Bay)

(G) Nominated Site: eight

1. Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks, Sdimouth

2. River Sid, Sidmouth to Seaton Hole

3. River Axe, Axmouth to The Cobb, Lyme Regis

4. Lyme Regis to West Bay

5. Chesil, the Fleet and Portland Coast

6. Portland Harbour Shore

7. Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point

8. New Swanage to Studland Bay

Fig. 3. Houns-tout cliff and Discovering fossils . (A) The cliffs are developed in the thickest British sections of the Portland Beds, with the basalPurbeck Beds above, and Kimmeridge Clay below. (B) The evidence of past life is often readily apparent in the rocks and pebbles on the beach.

J. KOREAN NATURE

102 Dal-Yong Kong, Jong-Deock Lim, and Min Huh

Heritage Site, running educational programs and addressing

civilian petitions.

The World Heritage Center and Heritage Centers (Visitor

Centers) utilize local collectors and volunteers (Fig. 4). The

government builds regional Heritage Centers and provides

exhibition spaces to be filled with the fossils collected by

local collectors, raising their pride and encouraging them to

take the lead in protecting fossil sites. There are only a few

regular employees at the Centers, so volunteers take much

of the operation. They are involved in educational programs

and the operation of the centers. They play an essential role

in protecting the World Heritage Site.

The Present and the future of the World Heritage

Center

To protect and preserve the Dorset and East Devon Coast,

many private organizations (e.g. National Trust, museums,

universities, etc.), landlords and local collectors joined

hands and built a network to share information and protect

the natural heritage. In addition to Heritage Centers, the

British government plans to set up a field station where

scholars and students could visit and conduct research. A

field station is designed to protect the natural heritage and

to further strengthen the superiority of the Dorset and East

Devon Coast. This is why various forms of field stations are

required in Korea.

Discussion

The Jeju Vocanic Island and Lava Tubes, the first World

Natural Heritage Site in Korea, is our pride. The designation

of Korea’s natural heritage as a World Heritage Site

presents great pleasure and pride on the other hand, it gives

us boundless responsibility and obligation. The responsibility

and obligation refer to the protection of natural properties

rather than the designation as World Heritage Sites (Kong,

D.Y., and Nam, S.C., 2007). World Heritage Sites represent

an international competition. Now that we are promoting

the second designation of a World Heritage Site, the Dorset

and East Devon Coast, which is the origin of geology, has a

different meaning for us. Without appropriate policies and

viable plans on education and protection after the

designation, the meaning of World Heritage Sites will be

diluted, no matter how wonderful the geological resources

are.

In the future, the information (know-how) on the

management of the Dorset and East Devon Coast can be

used as basic guidelines for management manual of World

Natural Heritage Sites in Korea. In addition, it is hoped that

the information will contribute to the designation of Korean

Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast as a World Heritage Site, which

is now underway.

Acknowledgment

This study was conducted under the 2009 Natural Monument

Fossil Site Research (NRICH-0910-A09F-1) of National

Cultural Heritage Research Institute, a research arm of the

Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea.

References

Dorset County Council and Devon County Council. (2000)Nomination of the Dorset and East Devon Coast forinclusion in the world Heritage List. 150 p.

Huh, M., Woo, K.S., Lee K.C., Seo, S.J., et al. (2008) KoreaCretaceous Dinosaur Coast as a World Natural HeritageSite, Academic value, the Paleontological Society of Korea,Summary of the Journal of the Paleontological Society ofKorea v. 24, p. 16.

Kong, D.Y., and Nam, S.C. (2007) Research report on 2007Natural Monument Fossil Site Monitoring, NationalCultural Heritage Research Institute, p. 7-30.

Kong, D.Y., Kim, T.H., Nam, S.C., and Lim, J.D. (2008)Development of data sheet for monitoring of naturalmonument fossil sites. Journal of the PaleontologicalSociety of Korea, v. 24, no. 1, p. 21-33.

Marco Cattaneo and Jasmina Trifoni. (2004) The World HeritageSites of Unesco Nature Sanctuaries. Thinking TreePublishing co., P. 28-29.

[Received on August 31, 2009]

Fig. 4. Charmouth Heritage Coast Center (A) and Volunteer (B).